All About Oscars 2019: Behind the Scenes on How the Academy Awards Works and the Formula to Win

The Academy Awards, aka the #Oscars, are movies’ biggest night. This is where the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences honors the best films of the previous year. These awards are in 24 categories, ranging from makeup and costume design, to sound mixing and original scores, to visual effects and film editing, and of course the most coveted Best Actor/Actress and Best Picture. See the full list of 2019 nominees here.

Before we get into that, doesn’t it seem that the biggest night in cinema is always embroiled in some sort of controversy?

2019: there’s no host. The last time that happened was 1989, and apparently, the show went off the rails via Vox.

2017 brought us the infamous Moonlight/La La Land fiasco. The BBC eloquently gives that play-by-play here, in case you forgot how that went down. Talk about awkward.

2016 was all about #OscarsSoWhite with the monotone Best Actor and Actress categories.

Ever wonder just how these films and actors get considered for the awards anyway? This Mental Floss article explains the nomination criteria for the 24 categories and the more than 6,000 voting members, but the formula stays the same – Directors nominate directors and actors nominate actors and so on, although, Best Picture of the Year is up to the entire Academy.

But, let’s dive a little deeper because that can’t be all – how do films even get to that point? Why do some generate such “Oscar buzz” or get considered Oscar bait”? What makes a film “the Best”?

Lucky for us Digg/Insider breaks down the surefire way films can win a coveted Oscar. My favorite part is that it is all supported by statistics. Numbers like, “76% of winners are over 2 hours”, “93% are dramas”, and that when it comes to Best Picture the formula usually is “Most Important > The Best”. My guess us you’ll find yourself nodding along to all the stats in the 8-minute video like it was.

Now: Despite what may be swirling around this year’s awards, most eyes will be on the last award of the night – the Best Picture of the Year. The 8 films, probably the most diverse in history, are (in alphabetical order) Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Green Book, Roma, A Star Is Born, and Vice.

What are you most excited to see at this year’s Oscars? Let us know below!